


The Miraculous Tales of Honeybee and Tomatohead

by Snugglebuttkitten



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, BeeNath, Character Development, Confident Nathaniel, First Kiss, Flirtatious Nathaniel, Flirting, Gen, Identity Reveal, Locked in a closet trope, Mild Sexual Tension, Non-Canon Relationship, Post Chloe Redemption, Rated M for Language and Possible Future Scenes, Smol Bean Chloe, Tall Guy x Short Girl Trope, Tsundere Chloe, bed sharing trope, chlonath, flustered chloe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23184427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snugglebuttkitten/pseuds/Snugglebuttkitten
Summary: Queen Bee dove through the doors of the restaurant and slammed them shut behind her, just as her transformation unraveled in a flash of golden light. Her sigh of relief was cut short by Pollen’s nervous titter, right before the Kwami dove into the yellow jacket of her outfit. Blinking open cerulean eyes, she didn’t get a chance to ask the tiny Goddess what was wrong before her eyes met the startled turquoise gaze of a man who looked strangely familiar. She desperately hoped he hadn’t seen her transformation, but he was sitting in a booth with a full view of the door, and by extension, her. Oh, and he was currently opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, eyes blown wide in shock. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 17
Kudos: 49





	The Miraculous Tales of Honeybee and Tomatohead

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the disclaimer; I don't want to have to repeat myself in the comment section

**DISCLAIMER:**

_**Please note that the Queen Bee depicted here is not the one from Canon. I have seen every episode currently released. I know what her powers, weapons and phrase are. Put simply, I don't have a flying fuck. The Queen Bee depicted here is my own, unique, OC version of her. Her powers, weapon, phrase, and appearance are different and are in no way related to canon Queen Bee. Please remember that this is FAN fiction. It is my story and I can change whatever I like. I hate when people try to 'inform' me of what the proper phrase or power is. I know what they are. I hate her powers, weapon, and appearance tbh and it is my goal to make my version closer to how I envision her. TY and enjoy the story. If you enjoy, please comment below. Your comments are so much more valuable to me than Kudos, although I accept those as well ;) this was originally slated to be a 2 Shot when I wrote it over a year ago but if it's popular enough, I might lengthen the fic. Let me know your thoughts on the matter down below!** _

“ _Fuck_ me and my big mouth,” Chloe Bourgeois mumbled quietly to herself, poking her head out of the small service hallway to check that the coast was clear. She quickly ducked back when she saw the Akuma storm out of the hotel room he had been rampaging through and winced at the sound of him kicking down the door to the next suite. Only two more doors lay between the Akuma and her current hiding place, and if she didn’t get out of here quickly, she was royally fucked. This wasn’t the first Akuma she had caused, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. In her youth, Chloe had been a well-known bully. Daughter of the Mayor and born with a silver spoon in her mouth, the blonde had been cruel, spoiled, and entitled. She was angry at the world because her mother couldn’t even bother to remember her name, and she was even angrier that, while her father loved her dearly, he would rather throw money at her problems than actually sit down and try to help her through them. It was no wonder she had turned out to be a psychotic bitch, bent on ruining the lives of everyone she came into contact with.

Thankfully, her wake-up call came when she was sixteen in the form of her father not being re-elected as Mayor. Instead, the city had elected a progressive young woman who refused to bend to the will of the former mayor, or his daughter. It was for the best. No longer having to fear her father’s wrath, people immediately stopped bending over backward to satisfy her every want and need. Teachers cracked down on her, refusing to accept work that wasn’t hers and no longer affording her special privileges. Students stood up to her, no longer afraid of costing their family their livelihood if they got on her bad side. Even Sabrina eventually stopped obeying her every whim and started standing up to her. Like a bucket of ice water being dumped on her head, Chloe woke up one day and found herself utterly alone. It was like she was invisible, watching the world pass her by, and she didn’t like it. But she also didn’t know how to change it and Chloe quickly found herself spiraling down a dark path that could have easily cost her life. And then, perfect Marinette Dupain-Cheng just _had_ to step in and offer her an olive branch.

The goody-two-shoes that everyone loved and that Chloe loved to _hate_ took notice of her old bully and the path she was heading down, and instead of sneering or laughing at her for turning towards alcoholism and recreational drugs, instead of calling her weak, she had offered to help her. She had helped Chloe talk to her father, really talk to him, for the first time in years. Angry words were tossed about, tears were shed, but they came out better and stronger than they’d been before. With the help of her father and Marinette, Chloe had gotten into rehab and had begun the long, arduous journey of turning her life around. She had expected Dupain-Cheng to walk away after that, but the idiot had stayed. She had visited Chloe every week, emailed her daily. She had kept Chloe sane through the hardest parts of her rehabilitation, and somewhere through it all, they became actual friends. Chloe was pretty sure that Marinette was the first genuine friend she had ever made and she was grateful to the girl. She owed her so much.

After a year in rehab, Chloe had returned to school a changed woman. Mostly. Some parts of her personality simply couldn’t be changed. She was a naturally bold, brash person. She told things the way she saw them and didn’t mince words. She was brutally honest, more than a little judgmental, and still had a holier-than-thou complex most of the time. But she wasn’t needlessly cruel, she no longer tried to control and manipulate those around her. She opened up more, stopped treating people like the dirt beneath her shoes, and slowly they had opened their arms and accepted her as one of their own. Chloe was later rewarded for her efforts when she received her Miraculous. She was eighteen, on the brink of graduating High School, and Ladybug was in a bind. Rena and Carapace were busy; Ryuuko was out of town and Viperion had a work thing that he couldn’t get away from…

Thus, Queen Bee was born. In a suit of yellow and black, with her honeycomb scepter and her swarm of honeybees (as in, literal bees made out of honey), she was the perfect distraction for Akumas. And at twenty-five, Chloe has grown a lot since becoming Queen Bee. She matured, she gained better control over her temper, and she generally tried to be a kinder, nicer person. Most of the time, it worked. Chloe had taken over the Hotel when her father retired and business had been booming since she had completely renovated it, turning the lower floors into the hottest nightclub in all of Europe, Club Miraculeux. And yes, the club’s theme was based around Paris’ own Superheroes. So sue her; she was inspired. The point was, Chloe was a better person. But she was also only human and so when one of her wait staff had spilled a bottle of red wine that cost more than he made in three months of work all over her white power suit, the cost of which she wasn’t even going to mention, she had lost her temper.

It had only been a split second before she got herself in check, apologized tightly, and excused herself to change and calm down in private, but it had been enough and now she had a crazed Akuma after her and he was destroying her hotel!! Logically, she knew Ladybug’s Miracle Cure would fix any damage but that didn’t mean she didn’t wince when she heard shattering glass that was no doubt the 2.5 million euro vase she had been gifted by Prince Ali when he last visited Paris.

“CHLOE BOURGEOIS!” The Akuma bellowed, stepping out into the hall once more and lumbering closer still. She closed her eyes and forced herself to clear her mind and steady her breathing as the Akuma kicked in the door of the next suite and began crashing around inside. Now! Eyes snapping open, the girl pushed away from the wall and darted out of the service hall and down the main hallway to the elevator at the end. Her chin-length hair bobbed as she moved quickly and silently, almost ricocheting off the wall as she slammed her finger repeatedly on the button, eyes glued to the numbers above the door as they slowly crept up. The elevator had been on the first floor. She was on the thirteenth.

 _Come on… come on!_ She mentally urged, bouncing from foot to foot as the numbers inched up at a snail’s pace. Her blue eyes flashed back towards the room the Akuma was currently in as something else shattered before forcing her gaze back to the numbers. _...4… 5… 6… 7… come on, can’t you move any faster!?_ She mentally wailed, barely noticing her Kwami zip out of her purse to nestle into her neck. Normally, such a gesture would comfort the girl but now her nerves were too frayed. _...10… 11… 13, yes!_ Chloe silently cheered as the elevator finally reached her floor, but the celebration was short-lived. In the quiet of the hallway, the sharp ding as the doors slid open sounded as loud as a gunshot. Eyes widening, she slowly slid her gaze towards the room the Akuma was destroying as all sound inside halted abruptly. The door slowly creaked open behind her as from the suite, the Akuma emerged and locked eyes on her.

He wasn’t anything too scary as far as Akumas went. He reminded her of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, and it made sense if he felt like a lackey or an indentured servant. Used but never appreciated. His beady eyes glowed brightly as he locked eyes with her and she had to swallow the lump in her throat. “CHLOE BOURGEOIS!” The Akuma suddenly bellowed. Chloe didn’t wait to see what he was planning. The second he started barrelling down the hall towards her, she whirled and dove into the elevator, slamming her finger rapidly down on the ‘close’ button. She honestly thought she was a goner, the doors closing far too slowly for her tastes, but close they did, just as the Akuma slammed into them on the other side. She breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator began its descent and leaned back against the rear wall, before sliding shakily into a crouch. She had made it. She had escaped.

“Don’t relax just yet My Queen,,” Pollen buzzed, zipping up to hover in front of her Chosen, now that they were alone and away from prying eyes. “Ladybug and Chat Noir are counting on you,” she added, smiling gently at her holder. Straightening up, Chloe nodded in agreement. Pollen was right, after all. She had a job to do.  
“Alright Polly,” she said, using the affectionate nickname she had started using for the Kwami a few years back. “ Stinger up! ”

Nathaniel Kurtzberg was not having the best day. For one thing, the day itself had started way too early in the morning after the young artist had returned to Paris on a redeye flight after several years of backpacking across the rest of Europe. As happy as he was to be home, arriving in the wee hours of the morning and stumbling bleary-eyed into a crappy motel room, only to fall into a fitful slumber on a lumpy mattress was never fun. Add that to the fact that he had to wake up and leave the motel for a series of early morning meetings, and he was dead tired. On the bright side, he had secured a small, fully furnished studio in the heart of Paris’ most artistic district and gotten his former job back at a local café that he had worked in during high school. Now, all he had to do was meet with Giselle Carter, the owner of one of the most coveted art galleries in Paris, and then he could stumble back to his new home and get some much-needed shut-eye.

They decided to meet at _Le Grand Paris_. It was the best hotel in Paris, after all, and had a lovely five-star restaurant that would be perfect for their meeting. Gallery Owners, Nathaniel had learned during his travels, liked to wine and dine when meeting potential clients. They were a sophisticated crowd; far more sophisticated than Nate could ever hope to be. But after so many years on the road, after so many years of featuring his art in smaller galleries all around Europe, he thought he had this whole thing down pat. He arrived a little over an hour early, because his meeting with his former boss had taken much less time than expected and he hadn’t wanted to go all the way back to his new apartment, only to have to turn around almost immediately. Besides, the area around _Le Grand Paris_ was where he had grown up and gone to school. After several years, it was nice to be back. The hotel was, predictably, flourishing. Nate hadn’t had many close friendships in his formative years, due to suffering from a crippling case of social anxiety in his youth, and so he, unfortunately, hadn’t kept in contact with too many people from his last few years of school. The only two he actively still talked to were Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl he had once been head over heels for, and Marc Anciel, his ex-boyfriend, both of whom were happily engaged.

In any case, through Marc and Marinette, Nathaniel was aware that former Mayor Andre Bourgeois had been replaced, and his daughter Chloe Bourgeois had taken over the hotel. He was not made aware that she had turned half of the bottom two floors into a nightclub, though he wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Chloe Bourgeois was far more progressive and willing to adapt to the times than her father had ever been. She had also given the hotel a more modern look, as opposed to the almost Victorian style décor her father had once used. Looking around the lobby, he found he liked what she had done with the place. Nathaniel informed the Maitre D that he was early and awaiting a guest, and the young man was more than happy to show him to his table. The restaurant had undergone a transformation as well. Deep red carpets, black fabric booths, white table clothed tables, each with fresh roses as a centerpiece. Low lighting gave the whole place an intimate ambiance. _Le cœur de la coccinelle_ was a fitting name for the restaurant.

It was still fairly early in the afternoon and _Le cœur de la coccinelle_ was more of a dinner destination, so the restaurant was mostly empty; only three or four other tables were occupied that he could see. They had private rooms so there might have been people back there, he supposed. Nate found himself seated in a corner booth with an uninterrupted view of the restaurant’s entrance, and decided to order a bottle of white wine while he awaited his lunch guest. In the meantime, he would go over his notes and portfolio to make sure everything was in order. Giselle didn’t seem as uptight as some of the other gallery owners he had met and worked with in the past, but he still wanted to be prepared. He wanted, no, _needed_ everything to go perfectly. The choice to move back to Paris had been a pretty easy one. His younger sister, Isobel Kurtzberg, was about to have a baby. The boyfriend had bailed and his parents had disowned her long ago for her wild child habits. Selling his art, Nathaniel was able to help pay her bills and had been doing so for the last few months while she got back on her feet, but he wanted to be there for her when his Nephew was born. He had missed his sister dreadfully, as well as his hometown while traveling across Europe.

Because Giselle owned the most popular gallery in town, it was usually booked solid and getting a permanent spot in the gallery was almost unheard of. When Marc had warned him of the opening, he had jumped on the chance and secured this meeting. There were other galleries, of course, ones who were popular enough that his paintings would still probably sell well, but Giselle’s gallery was the best. Anyone who was anyone in the art scene frequented her gallery to scope out the latest talents. Flipping through his portfolio now, the young man tried to see his work the way a gallery owner or buyer might. His work had been well received in Britain and Rome, and Ireland had been fun enough, even if the art scene wasn’t as big. He was confident in his work, but even in his mid-twenties, his old insecurities still reared their heads every once in a while and he found himself tugging nervously on a loose lock of bright crimson hair as his eyes roved over images he had taken of his paintings. Since graduating High School, Nathaniel had grown even taller, standing around six foot four, and he had chosen to grow his deep red hair out to shoulder-length. Most of the time his hair was pinned back in a man bun like it was now. A few locks always seemed to escape though.

He looked older too; still lean but far more muscular, no longer the scrawny shy kid who hid behind his sketchbooks. His face was chiseled, more defined than it had once been, and red stubble covered his cheeks, chin, and upper lip. His turquoise eyes had sharpened with age, holding a bright intelligence and confidence that hadn’t been present in his youth. Judging by the amount of attention he received both from men and women during his time away, Nate could easily deduce that people found him to be attractive. Not that he cared much about that sort of thing. Nate didn’t have time to date. Or he hadn’t. Now that he was back home, perhaps it was time he started thinking about finding a nice girl or guy and settling down. He knew Marc and his fiancée were already discussing adoption, and he had no doubt that Marinette and Adrien would have a couple of beautiful kids in the next few years. They were a match made in heaven, those two. He had known that even when he’d been crazy in love with her in middle school, before coming out as Bisexual and dating Marc for three years.

Glancing at his watch, Nate noted that the hour had passed uneventfully as he had been somewhat lost in thought. Giselle would be along any moment and he sat up straight and began straightening out his outfit of black slacks and a turquoise button down that he knew matched his eyes almost perfectly. There was no point fussing with his hair. It was mostly contained in the man bun, but the locks that had broken free had a mind of their own and refused to be contained unless they _wanted_ to be contained. That was okay, though, he doubted Giselle would hold it against him. Nathaniel was checking his phone half an hour later for the umpteenth time when the crash sounded from the kitchen, drawing his teal gaze away from his smartphone. In the dining area, the voices were muffled but he could tell someone was shouting at someone else. He tried not to stare at the swinging kitchen doors, he really did, but he couldn’t help himself. He was human, and humans were curious creatures by nature.

The shouting continued for several brief moments until suddenly the doors slammed open and a woman stormed through. Nathaniel almost didn’t recognize her. He hadn’t seen Chloe since their graduation party almost seven years prior and hadn’t expected to run into her today. Or ever, for that matter. They didn’t run in the same social circles. Running his gaze over her, he could immediately pick up the source of her anger. She was wearing a smart white pantsuit that was now stained with red wine. She looked like she had been shot or stabbed multiple times. Her hair was shorter than he recalled, falling to her chin in a sleek bob as opposed to the long, ponytail he recalled her sporting in all of his memories of her. She was taller, though he would bet she was still shorter than he was, and age had been kind to her. She had aged beautifully, looking every bit the sleek and polished socialite that he expected of Chloe Elouise Bourgeois

His eyes tracked her progress as she stormed across the restaurant and out of the doors, no doubt on her way to her penthouse suite to change. Returning his gaze to the doors to the kitchen only once she had disappeared, he waited expectantly for some poor waiter to emerge, face streaked with tears, but it didn’t happen and he eventually lost interest. Chloe had grown a lot since her earlier years; he knew that. She might not have even fired the poor sap, whereas middle school Chloe would have demanded his head on a pike for such a monumental screw-up. No doubt her outfit had cost a pretty penny, and _Le Grand_ prided itself on only serving the best of everything, so he could only imagine the wine now decorating her suit had cost a small fortune. The next few minutes passed uneventfully. Nathaniel shot off a text to Giselle, confirming their meeting time on the off chance that he had gotten it wrong. He was still waiting on a response when the Akuma burst through the kitchen doors, screeching for Chloe Bourgeois to show herself.

Nathaniel briefly froze, wide teal eyes locked on the Akuma. It had been years since he had to deal with an Akuma attack. What were the odds of one happening the day he returned to town, in the same location that he was currently in? The Akuma itself was nothing special; a winged monkey that stood at around four feet tall, a small hat atop his head. Coarse brown fur covered his body and his eyes were beady and red. He had seen better, but he hadn’t come here to critique Hawkmoth’s latest Akuma. He had come here to meet with Giselle about the open Gallery spot. It would be just his luck to flee the Akuma and end up having her show up and thinking he had bailed or something. No. No way, this spot was much too important to him. He was not leaving just because… what did he say his name was? Dark Lackey? Seriously, that was the best Hawkmoth could come up with? Talk about a creativity block. Either way, he was not leaving just because Dark Lackey was pissed off. So while the other patrons started screaming and fleeing for the doors, Nathaniel slid out of his booth and discreetly ducked under his table.

Dark Lackey was more interested in finding Chloe, so he barely looked around before storming out of the restaurant after the fleeing patrons, shouting her name all the while. Sighing in relief, he waited until the coast was clear to resume his spot in the booth. The Akuma probably wouldn’t come back here, so he would wait right here. He knew that in his last few years of high school, the number of Miraculous Wielders had grown exponentially. Hawkmoth was growing in power and busy civilian lives likely dictated that the heroes needed help. Someone was sure to be along soon enough to deal with the issue. He would just wait here, and with hope, Giselle would text him back soon!

“Swarm!” Queen Bee growled, twirling her scepter before pointing it at the rampaging Akuma. Honey began to secrete rapidly from the honeycomb at the tip of her scepter, great globs forming in the air and taking shape until a couple hundred honeybees buzzed quietly around her, awaiting her orders. The Akuma might not look like anything special, but he was surprisingly tough to defeat, even with Chat Noir, Ladybug, and Merry Mouse on the scene. Currently, the other three were trying to direct the hotel guests out of the hotel and away from the building. The sooner they got the civilians out of the way, the sooner they could stop holding back and go all out on this bastard. Following her silent commands, the swarms swooped and began to buzz around and sting the Akuma over and over, effectively pulling his eyes from the heroine as he roared and screeched in protest.

Eventually, the last of the stragglers made it out of the building just as her bees began to disappear one by one and her hair comb beeped its final warning. She was about to transform back. A hand on her shoulder drew her eyes to Merry Mouse. The petite girl with the gray and pink uniform, hair piled atop her head in twin buns like mouse ears, smiled reassuringly. She always reminded Queen Bee of Minnie Mouse, to be honest. “Go. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and I can handle the Akuma while you recharge,” the smaller girl promised with a sweet smile, before slinging out one of her ribbon batons to latch onto one of the light fixtures overhead. With another brief nod, she swung away and back into the fray, while Queen Bee spun around in search of a hiding space. The Akuma and her teammates sat between her and the nightclub, and the Elevator Bank was too close to them for her to safely reach. Besides, she would likely transform before the doors closed. The restaurant. That was her best bet.

With only seconds to spare, Queen Bee dove through the doors of the restaurant and slammed them shut behind her, just as her transformation unraveled in a flash of golden light. Her sigh of relief was cut short by Pollen’s nervous titter, right before the Kwami dove into the yellow jacket of her replacement outfit. Blinking open cerulean eyes, she didn’t get a chance to ask the tiny Goddess what was wrong before her eyes met the startled turquoise gaze of a man who looked strangely familiar. She desperately hoped he hadn’t seen her transformation, but he was sitting in a booth with a full view of the door, and by extension, her. Oh, and he was currently opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, eyes blown wide in shock. _Fan-fucking-tastic_. Chloe reacted on pure instinct, crossing the room in three long strides and covering his mouth with her hand before he could speak.

“Don’t scream,” she hissed quietly, eyes darting towards the door behind her. Ladybug and Chat Noir might know who she was, but they were pretty particular about other team members knowing unless the pair were partners. Chloe didn’t have a partner like most of the others did. She had refused when offered; a partner, especially a green behind the ears newbie, would only slow her down. So she wasn’t keen on breaking that rule and letting Merry Mouse, let alone Dark Lackey, figure out her Civilian identity. It was bad enough she had allowed this guy to see, but that was one hundred percent her fault. She should have been paying attention; she should have made sure the restaurant was empty. She hadn’t expected anyone to just be sitting in one of the booths, waiting out the Akuma attack without a care in the world. This guy was either really brave or just plain stupid. He was also trying to speak, the words muffled behind her hands. Her eyes narrowed, focusing back on him.

“If you scream, I’m rich enough to make your death look like an accident. Clear?” She asked harshly. She couldn’t be sure, but as the shock faded from the guy’s intense turquoise eyes, she could have sworn amusement took its place. The guy nodded as much as he could with her practically pinning him to the bench seat and she slowly backed off.

“You know, I find it ironic that a hero of Paris is threatening my life right now,” the man announced, lips quirked up into a half smirk. Chloe opened her mouth, but no sound came out. For the first time in a long time, she had actually been rendered speechless.

Nathaniel could tell that he had surprised her. He could also tell that Chloe didn’t recognize him, but that wasn’t surprising. They had never really been friends, anyway. Chloe had been a bully during most of their formative years and if not for Marinette, Nathaniel was sure he would have been one of her main targets. She was the reason he was Akumatized, now that he thought about it. Hell, she was the reason most of their class had been Akumatized. But Chloe had changed. With the help of Marinette, their resident golden child, she had turned her life around and despite his previous surprise, Nate found he wasn’t quite as shocked as he expected to be. Well, he wasn’t as shocked that she was a hero. He was definitely a bit disconcerted by the fact that he had once harbored a crush on Chloe Bourgeois .

When Queen Bee had first made her debut during their Senior Year, she had ended up saving him on one of her first outings as a heroine and she ended up becoming his muse for several years afterward. He, along with Marc, had worked on several comics together featuring the blonde heroine, and a few of them were even published. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Nate lifted his gaze to the blondes once more. She was staring at him hard as if she recognized him but couldn’t quite place him. It was kind of cute, the way her brow scrunched up and her nose wrinkled in concentration. “Cat got your tongue, Honey Bee?” He asked, breaking the silence that had descended upon them. He didn’t know what prompted him to say it, but now the words were out there, hovering between them. The confusion morphed into annoyance and she straightened up to glare at him. He was certain that most people on the receiving end of that look from Chloe Bourgeois immediately withered, but he wasn’t the scared kid he used to be. He had found his voice and his confidence during his tour and something made him want to tease her, rile her up, see what made her tick.

“My _name_ is Queen Bee,” she scoffed shortly, turning her nose up and tossing her hair indignantly. He didn’t have the heart to point out that the move lacked the same impact it had when her hair was longer. Now it just looked adorably indignant.

“I don’t know… you look more like a Honey Bee to me,” he drawled, shifting his gaze away as he smirked. He sensed rather than saw her bristle at his words. _Am I flirting with her? With Chloe? But why?_  
“Whatever. This area is off limits. You should leave before you get hurt,” she scoffed, crossing her arms and turning away. He had struck a nerve. How interesting.

“No can do, _ma petite abeille_. I’m meeting someone here and I can’t risk missing her,” he said with a shrug, propping one elbow up on the table and resting his cheek on his fist as he blinked up at her. Her back was to him, but he caught her shoot a glance at him over her shoulder before quickly looking away.

“Your girlfriend, I presume?” She asked after a moment.

“Maybe,” Nathaniel said with a shrug that she wouldn’t see, finally pushing up from the table so that he stood over her. By Gods, she was even tinier than he recalled. She couldn’t have been more than five foot five in comparison to his six foot four frame. “Does that bother you?”

 _Nate. Man. What the actual fuck are you doing?_ A voice that sounded suspiciously like Marc asked in his head. _This is Chloe Bourgeois. The same Chloe who tormented you for years. Why the fuck are you flirting with her?_

“No!” Chloe spun around to face him as the denial flew off her tongue, arms crossing defensively as she scowled up at him, but there was a rosy tint to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before and against his better judgment, Nate found himself stepped closer, crowding her space while making certain he didn’t touch her. He was still a gentleman, after all.

“Are you _lying_ , Chloe? Heroes shouldn’t lie,” he breathed, watching as her pupils expanded and her lips parted, tongue darting out to wet them. She was nervous; _he_ was making her nervous. What an empowering thought. She wasn’t moving away, either, and Nate found he didn’t want to move away either.

“I’m not lying. I don’t even know you; why would I care if some stranger were waiting on his girlfriend?” She scoffed, averting her gaze as her cheeks reddened further. It was gratifying to know that he had some sort of effect on her, and he leaned even closer so his mouth hovered over her ear.

“Maybe because deep down you know I’m not a stranger, Chloe,” he whispered. There was no denying it now. He was flirting with her and for some odd reason, he wanted to continue flirting with her. She shivered as his breath fell over the shell of her ear, her breathing becoming slightly unsteady. He smirked, about to speak again, when an explosion shook the building. The Akuma wasn’t going down without a fight, apparently. Chloe jerked back, eyes widening as she was shaken from whatever spell had momentarily been cast upon them, and she snapped into action. Grabbing his wrist, she dragged him across the restaurant and shoved him through the first door they came upon, following after him and closing the door behind them. Instantly, they were plunged into darkness.

“We should be fine in here until the Akuma is taken care of,” Chloe growled, shaking her head. They were so close, he could feel her every movement, even if he was as blind as a bat in here. Blinking in an effort to adjust to the darkness, Nathaniel began feeling carefully around for some sort of light switch. All he found were shelves lined with what felt like cleaning supplies and he sighed.

“Chloe…” He said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What?” Her voice came out sounding short and temperamental.

“This is a utility closet,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, so?” She grumbled. He had to repress the urge to roll his eyes at her abrasiveness, not that she would be able to see anything if he did. He was pretty sure she was being obtuse on purpose.

“There are private dining rooms with _locking doors_ in the restaurant,” he said, barely suppressing a growl of annoyance. He was not a big fan of small spaces. Chloe was silent for a moment, her whole body going slack.

“Oh.”

“Oh? _Oh!?_ Chloe, this is _your_ restaurant. How could you forget that!?” He demanded incredulously. She immediately tensed back up, going on the defensive.

“I wasn’t thinking! In any case, it’s not a huge deal. We’ll just.. Leave and duck into one of those if it's such a big deal,” she growled, grabbing the door handle. The sound of the handle rattling was like a gunshot going off in the small closet and the redhead closed his eyes briefly to regain some of his slipping composure.

“Let me guess… we’re locked in?” He asked. Chloe didn’t respond right away, her shoulders tensing even further as a world-weary sigh escaped him as he said, “Shit.”

"Well... at least the door is locked," Chloe offered _oh_ -so-helpfully.

**Author's Note:**

> Let Me Know What You Think!


End file.
